Bitcoin began to make headlines after one unit of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency became worth more than $11,500. It is still referred to by many as a new form of currency, but Bitcoin has existed since 2009, and the concept of cryptocurrencies has existed since the 1980s. If you had invested $1,000 in Bitcoin in 2009 when it became available to the public, your investment would be worth over $37,000,000 today.
The beginning of Bitcoin
In 2008, someone that called themselves Satoshi Nakamoto, though their real name is still unknown, published a white paper entitled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System in a mailing list discussion about cryptography. In 2009, Nakamoto mined the first ever unit of Bitcoin and proved the blockchain worked. Not long after, Bitcoin was made available to the public.
In 2010, Bitcoin was valued for the first time when 10,000 units of Bitcoin (BTC) were traded in exchange for two pizzas. Before this, as Bitcoin had never been traded, it had no value. The value of the units traded for the two pizzas would be worth over $100,000,000 in today’s market.
Rival Cryptocurrencies
In 2011, as the popularity of Bitcoin increased, and the idea of encrypted and decentralised currencies gathered more support, the first alternative cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin began to appear. Namecoin and Litecoin were amongst some of the first rival cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin. There are more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies currently available, and there are more appearing all the time.
Bitcoin Price Crash
In 2013, the value of one unit of Bitcoin reached $1,000 for the first time, but not long after it reached this high, the value of it began to plummet. The value dropped to less than 50% of its value in 2013, causing many investors to lose a lot of money. It wasn’t until 2016 that the value of Bitcoin returned to and surpassed its high of $1,000 a unit.
Hacks, theft and scams
With a cryptocurrency that is designed with anonymity in mind and with a lack of centralised control, it should come as no surprise that there have been many cases of people being scammed out of their cryptocurrencies and having their private keys stolen, meaning that they no longer control their own wallets. However, none of these thefts compare to the hacking operations that have hit different cryptocurrency exchanges. Most famously is the Mt. Gox hacking in January of 2014. 850,000 Bitcoins were stolen when the Mt. Gox exchange was hacked and suddenly went offline. At the time, the value of the Bitcoins stolen was approximately $450,000,000. In today’s market, the value would be closer to $4,500,000,000.
The continued rise in value
In 2017, the value of Bitcoin rose to $10,000 per unit, and with it becoming increasingly accepted as a form of payment for goods and services, the popularity of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies continues to rise. Even banks such as Barclays, Citi Bank, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas, have said they are looking at ways to work with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
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